Siri-ous Mistake

Earlier this week, I posted a blog titled, "Meet The 'Real' Siri." In it, I referenced a video originally posted on the tech blog theverge.com. The title of the video is, "How Siri Found Its Voice." The video shows the progression of synthesized speech, from early primitive computers to the Mattel® "Speak-And-Spell" toys and video games, all the way up to that familiar voice on our smartphones.

The video highlights a voice actress named Allison Dufty, and shows her in the studio, laying down various sentences and phrases that will be used to create a synthesized female voice. This led me (and--judging by subsequent postings I've seen on other radio stations' websites and Facebook--many others) to believe that Allison Dufty is, in fact, the "voice of Siri." Apparently, this is not true, as I received an email on September 19, 2013 from Allison herself. Here is what she wrote:

Your recent post on the "voice of Siri" is not true, and I know this because I am the voice actor that was interviewed. Unfortunately, the Verge video feature headline has sent many people my way assuming "How Siri Got Its Voice" meant that I was the voice of Siri, which I'm not. The wording of the headline was catchy, but made it easy to miss that the article was about the "How" part, and not the "Who." Thanks, Allison...........................allison dufty writer talker listenerallisondufty.com

Oops!

So, I would like to publicly apologize to Ms. Dufty for misinterpreting the meaning behind the video. I am sorry if it has brought unwanted attention her way.
I also apologized to Siri. She took it well.